U.S. Construction Rise Less Than Expected

Construction spending across the U.S. during November 2005 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.15 trillion, two-tenths of a percentage point above the revised October rate of $1.14 trillion, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Jan. 3. Although spending rose from October to November, the latest months for which data are available, the increase was far less than the seven-tenths rise economists generally expected.

Neither residential construction nor public construction posted the gains economists anticipated. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $641.9 billion in November, just a bit below the revised October rate of $642.1 billion. Public construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $253.9 billion in November, three-tenths of a percentage point higher than October's revised rate of $253.2 billion. Several economists had been looking for a full percentage point increase in public construction spending.